Apt Commands

apt-get install Downloads and all of its dependencies, and installs or upgrades them.

apt-get remove [–purge] Removes and any packages that depend on it. –purge specifies that packages should be purged.

apt-get update Updates packages listings from the repo, should be run at least once a week.

apt-get upgrade Upgrades all currently installed packages with those updates available from the repo. should be run once a week.

apt-get dist-upgrade[-u] Similar to apt-get upgrade, except that dist-upgrade will install or remove packages to satisfy dependencies.

apt-cache search Searches packages and descriptions for .

apt-cache show Shows the full description of .

apt-cache showpkg > Shows a lot more detail about , and its relationships to other packages.

man aptWill give you more info on these commands as well as many that are in less common usage.

dpkg commands

dpkg -i Installs a package file; one that you downloaded manually, for example.

dpkg -c Lists the contents of a .deb file.

dpkg -I Extracts package information from a .deb file.

dpkg -r Removes an installed package named

dpkg -P Purges an installed package named . The difference between remove and purge is that while remove only deletes data and executables, purge also deletes all configuration files in addition.

dpkg -L Gives a listing of all the files installed by . See also dpkg -c for checking the contents of a .deb file.

dpkg -s Shows information on the installed package . See also apt-cache show for viewing package information in the Debian archive and dpkg -I for viewing package information extracted from a .deb file.

dpkg-reconfigure Reconfigures an installed package

man dpkg Will give you more info on these commands as well as many that are in less common usage.